OUR MISSION

Strengthening National Security

Our Current Mission Areas & Focus Areas

Mission Area: Nuclear Deterrence

Develop and apply the scientific insight and engineering prowess to assure the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile in an ever-changing threat environment and enable the modernization and transformation of the NNSA production enterprise. Key operations include:

  • Annual assessment 
  • Stockpile modernization 
  • Advanced science and technology 
  • NNSA enterprise agility and resilience 

Mission Focus Area: Stockpile and Enterprise Transformation

Increases responsiveness and resilience of the Nuclear Security Enterprise by improving key technology, resources and skills across the enterprise; advances experimental, design and computational capabilities; and leverages collaborative networks within the NSE, academia and industry.

Mission Area: Threat Preparedness and Response

Provide unique capabilities and innovative solutions to stem proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, understand capabilities and anticipate adversarial actions and support response and consequence mitigation of natural and man-made threats. Key operations include: 

  • Nuclear counterproliferation and counterterrorism
  • Pandemic response tools and biosecurity
  • Forensic science
  • All-source intelligence

Mission Focus Area: Bio Resilience
Integrates LLNL’s unique computing and experimental capabilities to identify, characterize and counter natural and man-made biological threats at dramatically reduced timescales.

Mission Area: Climate and Energy Security

Advance understanding of the global climate system, develop technologies to reduce accumulation of greenhouse gases and pursue the domestic production and supply of affordable, clean and increasingly carbon-free energy delivered across a secure and sustainable infrastructure. Key operations include:

  • High-fidelity climate impact assessments
  • Reliable, secure, low-carbon energy
  • Infrastructure sustainability
  • Advanced materials and manufacturing

Mission Focus Area: Climate Resilience
Couples biogeochemistry, materials science, geology and climate simulation with infrastructure analysis to mitigate greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and predict climate impacts at scale.

Mission Area: Multi-Domain Deterrence

Create a global strategic advantage through innovative technologies, strategies and analyses to bolster escalatory and defensive capabilities across the full spectrum of domains including strategic defense, conventional strike, space, cyber and technology competition.

  • Emerging technology R&D and assessments
  • Strategic defense and conventional strike
  • Space/cyber security
  • Cognitive simulation/artificial intelligence

Mission Focus Area: Strategic Advantage
Uses integrated science and technology to win the strategic competition.

*Threat preparedness image credit: Omar Haj Kadour / Stringer via Getty images

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